We Raised Prices on 300 Mowing Customers.... SHOCKING RESULTS!

I failed on this turnaround.

The story arc of most turnarounds are:

1.) identify issue

2.) implement solution

3.) measure results/change

In this turnaround the issue was that Kyle’s crew quickly shrank from 6 to 3 employees. He had grown his location very quickly in just one year at Augusta Lawn Care. However, he now had far too many jobs on the schedule and had worked more than 20 days without stopping… in 100 degree heat.

The resolution was simple. In the short term we needed to raise prices across the board to give some cushion for higher wages and better profit margins. The goal was to hire 1-2 more team members and consolidate some of the unused trucks/equipment.

The results….

Well, we raised prices on almost all of his 300 mowing customers. Fortunately almost 95% of customers stayed on despite raising prices by 20-25%…. Effectively doubling his profit.

The downside….

I didn’t accomplish my goal of hiring any new employees. I guess I underestimated how few people want to start mowing grass in the middle of a heat wave. Kyle required that the new employees have experience and it was tough to find despite setting up more than 10 interviews in 2 days.

I failed on this one. Watch the video and figure out what I did wrong.

Have an awesome weekend!

Mike Andes